This Is How It Ends

As a child she believed of something that lived in the dark abyss of the universe now, after being proved right, she was left with no family, no friends, no anybody. She was alone in the remains of a world that had once been.
The Recall invaded our solar system within the space of three minutes. The humans had no idea that these were their final three minutes alive.
The tiny insignificant mundane lifeforms stared up into the sky in wonder as one by one the bright stars went out. They were doomed.
It all happened in stages as another blossoming life form disappeared into ash, 4.54 billion years all to be forgotten and never to be remembered again.
She was on her own. Or so it seemed.

9. The Broken Soul

It was later that day they both agreed to go out and find more food supplies. Cassidy was adamant they weren’t going on a raid. She even shuddered at the word when he had mentioned it earlier that morning.

“What about us visit that gas station a couple of miles from here?” He dropped casually into the conversation, she glared at him fiercely.

“No.”

Her reply was simple and firm, however Riker didn’t drop it there. “We need supplies Cass’ and I know that no one has taken anything from there, it’s still got supplies; the supplies that we need to stay here!” Cassidy cut him off short with her thunderous and abrupt reply “What’s the point in living here or anywhere on this earth any longer?! It’s inevitable! We’re going to perish like the rest!” Riker took his stance on the hard forest floor and opened his mouth in response. He quickly closed it as he saw the blaze of anger burning viciously in her eyes. Maybe it was for the best if he agreed to do whatever she demanded…just for today.

Cassidy sighed deeply knowing she had pushed the boundaries a bit further than she should of. Without apologizing she turned on her heel and stormed into the cabin. She whacked the door shut so hard that each floorboard rose from its settling place and complained at the unexpected movement. It was fair to say that she wanted to be well and truly alone.

Riker waited patiently for two hours. He lay there with his back against the long grass and soft earth with his eyelids closed lightly- he knew how often this happened. “Mood swings happened to all girls, right?” He considered thoughtfully “Rydel never got too upset…well then again I’m sure she managed to keep them under control…” The mention of his sister, once again, filled him with doubt. “Stop Riker, you need to have hope…” It was then that he considered her current living status. If she was alive then that was good news as well, but if she were dead surely that would be good news too? She would have escaped the worst of it; the not knowing and the breath of oblivion right behind you every step of the way. The thought made his bones quiver with the idea of death being inevitable.

It wasn’t uncommon for Cassidy to have mood swings. It was common in each and every one of us to be in one mood for a whole day. Riker just seemed to be oblivious to this fact.

From the miniscule crack in the wood that showed the dark world inside, Riker could see Cassidy perfectly well. She was curled up as small as he had ever thought physically possible, her head was tucked into her hands and Cassidy’s body was violently shaking as if she were crying. Cassidy, being such a strong soul, had never cried in front of anyone for the past 3 years. The only exception was when her mother, the person she had loved and cherished died right in front of her own feet. Riker had been told the story only once but remembered every single vivid detail about it. While she told it Cassidy stared off into an invisible target just above Riker’s head, the thought of someone hearing the story and her telling of it was too much for eye contact. She was a broken soul, it was up to him to put the pieces back together again.